1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a snow making method and apparatus.
The term “snow” shall be used throughout the specification to include instant snow, powdered snow, ice crystals and the like.
The snow may be used for novelty purposes, to create snow for ski centres and ski areas (both indoors and outdoors), for use as an ice or crushed ice substitute, eg., for food and/or beverages, and the like.
2. Prior Art
Over the years, a number of methods of making snow have been proposed, and two examples will now be discussed.
The “Polar Process” is a cryogenic form of snow making, is where liquid nitrogen (N2) is mixed with water atomised by an air compressor in a snow pipe to make snow. This has proven a popular form of snow production for events and promotions. While the capital cost is not great, the operational costs for making the snow are very high, as up to 500 kg of liquid nitrogen is required to be mixed with water to form one cubic meter of snow.
Another known method is the “Crushed Ice Process”. This process of snow production is expensive and very labour intensive and the snow product is more in the form of shaved ice, and not a true snow crystal. The process relies on the production of, eg., 150 kg, blocks of ice which are transported to a site, and where they are put through an ice grinding machine to be shaved into saved ice particles for use as snow. The process is expensive as the blocks are expensive to buy, and require specialised transport and labour to transport and handle the blocks. The machinery to make the ice blocks is large and cumbersome, and there are very few ice-making works capable of producing the blocks. The use of this form of snow production for events has been limited.